


that girl with the winning smile

by godtiercomplexfics (godtiercomplex)



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 1950s, 1950s Slang, Alternate Universe - Human, Californication is the disillusionment with Hollywood, F/F, mix of nyotalia and regular btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-19 09:19:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13701534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godtiercomplex/pseuds/godtiercomplexfics
Summary: Waiting tables isn't easy but seeing the Queen of Hollywood at her small restaurant each morning helps balance it out for Jun.





	1. The Queen of Hollywood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blackvelvetopia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackvelvetopia/gifts).



> In 2016 I wanted to write the longest 100% AmeChu-centric fanfic on Ao3. [So, I am](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9712064/chapters/21908549). 
> 
> In 2018 I want to write more F/F fics, so here's a gift to the wonderful Izzy.

_That blond doll is here again,_ was Jun’s first thought as she finished tying her apron around her waist and stuck her notepad and pencil stub inside the front pocket. She didn’t listen to Juan chattering at the remaining night shift waitresses and instead focused on making sure her apron was neat and presentable. There was nothing she could do about the lingering coffee stain, so she sighed, grabbed both coffee pots and smiled her way out to the floor. The regulars were all there, from the old chess players to the workers shuffling food down before heading back home.

She was there as well, looking like she’d stepped out of a flick in her slick leather coat. Jun paced herself by topping off the mugs of all who held them out to her. Jun came to a pause in front of the girl who looked up from the layers of paper in front of her and gave her a cool smile. Jun just didn’t know how to respond when eyes as blue as the ocean were sparkling up at her like that— until the girl held out her cup and Jun automatically refilled it with decaf.

“Thanks.” The girl pressed her red lips to the mug and took a sip before setting her mug down. Jun stood there for a moment too long and then with a soft sigh drifted off— but not before letting the girl know, “Your order will be done soon!”

Stepping back into the kitchen, Juan gave her a slow shake of his head before turning back to his grills. “I almost got that Queen’s order done, June bug.”

Jun didn’t fuss at the nickname, having let it settle on her months ago and instead went to gather up other finished dishes. Elodie was the only other waitress on duty. She was a small blond with an easy smile who started off her shifts by making friendly with the chess players. Considering how well they tipped it was easy to see why. Jun didn’t let it bother her because she had an ace up her sleeve. The Queen of this small diner, who started off every weekday morning with her decaf coffee, her oatmeal, her toast, and one fried egg tipped far higher than Jun would’ve imagined. It had only lead to the current theories around the kitchen that the angel who eased her way into the diner each morning was a star in hiding. The Queen was obviously seeking rest from her busy, hectic life. Jun couldn’t blame her.

After Jun had delivered the other patrons plates to their table with a smile, she returned the kitchen and grabbed a napkin. Her pencil hovered before she sprawled out her message.

_Good luck at work today, beautiful <3 Keep smiling! _

Once that was done she settled the napkin down on the tray and gathered up the Queen’s breakfast to deliver it. The other woman smiled at her briefly before going back to the papers in front of her, reading intensely as she said the words in a whisper. Jun let her be and went to tend to the other patrons. She cast an eyeball on the Queen occasionally so she could attend to her needs but the woman never asked for much. She only wanted one more refill on her decaf and nothing else.

As usual by the time 8 rolled around, the Queen was gone, leaving a few dollars for her meal and a few more for Jun’s tip. Also as usual, Jun’s note sat folded up on the table unread.

What did Jun think she was doing?

Jun’s family had left China when she was barely 15 for that fabled American Dream. Ten odd years later and all they had to show for it was her father’s resale store and her mother’s calloused hands from her cleaning job. She owed her parents the world, she knew that.

Despite that… she still had dreams. Foolish, selfish, she’d heard it all and yet someday she wanted them to come true.

That was why after she got off work and before she slid into her other uniform, she sat in her room copying patterns from fashion magazines she’d borrowed from Elodie. Even if she couldn’t actively work on her dream, didn’t mean she had to cast it off and leave it to rot. She could steal moments to keep up her skills and to keep working toward it.

Wasn’t that part of the American dream as well?

As she finished tracing out the pattern for this midline dress, she couldn’t help but wonder what the Queen would look like in it. The colors would have to be something warm, maybe a shade of pink, to light her brown skin up and yet also make her light hair stand out. Her eyes already stood out enough, those pools of oceanic blue that made Jun want to lose herself in them and never come out…

She set down her pen as her mother called for her, and wondered if flowers would look as good in those curls as she thought they would.

“Queenie showed up at five and fell asleep in a booth.” That was how Sofia greeted Jun when she came into the kitchen the second Monday in October. Jun looked past the kitchen’s window out into the diner, trying and failing to see Queen. “Jun, can you try seeing if you can’t get her to wake up so she can go home?”

“Do you think she’s sick?” Jun looked back at the Italian sister duo, Sofia and Rosalina, who were the only overnight waitresses. Rosalina had already yanked off her apron and Sofia was neatly undoing her own.

Rosalina spoke first, never one to not speak her mind. “I think she’s a fucking shuckster. She reeks of booze. Queen? Yeah, tell me another.”

“Shut up,” Jun said. Her hands were clenched into fists as she stared Rosalina down. “She’s our very own Miss Hollywood and you’re not gonna drive her off. Just go home.”

“Hey, hey, let’s keep it loose, keep it cool.” Sofia urged, hands coming up and down between Jun and her sister.

“What is going on here?” Juan entered from the back office and looked over all of them. “Whatever it is, knock if off. Don’t leave the customers waiting.”

Rosalina scoffed, and Jun took a warning step toward her. Elodie choose that moment to stop in from the front. “Can I get some help around here, Jun? Also, Queen is looking for you.”

That was enough for Jun to grab her apron and tie it around her waist as Elodie nodded over at one of the booths.

It was a sight Jun hadn’t expected. The normally put together Queen of Hollywood was in a tight black dress that was toeing the line between sexy and obscene. Her golden hair had been pinned up once but now the curls were tumbling down and out. She did smell of booze, but as Jun leaned down there was clearly none on her breath. Queen looked at her quickly and smiled.

Her blue eyes weren’t as sparkly as they normally were, in fact they were blown wide open, shocked. It was like something out of those war flicks Jun had seen too often.

“What happened?” Jun was sitting down next to Queen before the final syllable had even left her mouth. “Are you okay?” Jun was quick to ask when she noticed the bruises on Queen’s arm next to her. From her wrist up to her shoulder, she’d clearly been mishandled. Jun clenched her fists.

“You know how it goes in this town.” Queen’s voice was lower than usual, huskier even. Raw sounding like it’d been through some things.

“I don’t think I do. Do you need a doctor, Queen?”

Queen looked at Jun and asked, “Queen?” before softly adding, “I jumped outta a car and found my way here. I’ll live.” Her voice sounded far away and Jun didn’t like it. She also didn’t like the color of some of those bruises, or the raw way Queen was sounding.

“I’ll get you something for your throat,” Jun said as she started to stand up. She’d also grab some bandages and— she couldn’t move because Queen had wrapped fingers around her elbow.

“Can you sit with me awhile?” Jun looked at her brown hand wrapped so loosely around her own pale skin and sat back down. “You’re a real star, Miss Waitress.”

“It’s Jun.”

“Amy,” Queen said and slid her hand off Jun’s elbow to settle hers lightly on the back of Jun’s hand. “Or Amelia if you want to be fancy.”

_Amy_ … Jun looked at their hands and ended up shifting hers so she was holding Amy’s back. _Oh Amy, what happened to you?_

Elodie stopped by the table and held up her notebook. “Can I get you anything?”

Jun squeezed Amy’s hand, before looking at Elodie. “A whole pot of tea?”

“Can do, June bug.” Elodie tucked her paper and pencil away and leaned down to whisper in Jun’s ear, “If we need to get a doctor here, let me know.”

Jun nodded and once Elodie had stepped past them to greet some newcomers looked at Amy. Jun carefully asked one more time, one last time, “Can you tell me what happened?”

Amy sighed. “One of the big daddies at my job is real gone over me.” Elodie came back with the pot of tea and two mugs. Amy waits until she’s stepped way before continuing. “He’s always calling, calling, and it’s not as if I can say _no_ too often or else he’ll kick up a fuss… well like he did last night.” There’s a circle of empty tables around them, all the regulars having gotten the unsaid memo to stay away. “Some men just don’t know how to handle their liquor,” Amy touches a hand to her chest and pulls the top of her dress off of her for a moment. “I need to get out of this but knowing him he’s probably slipped the doorman something to let him know when I’ve come home.” She smoothed out the dress. “He’s going to try damage control before I get my boss involved. He can get bent for all I care.”

Where did Jun even start? But first off: “Your doorman’s that untrustworthy?”

Amy squeezed her hand. “He doesn’t take kindly to someone like me living there. It’s why I decided to come here… it’s close enough I can walk home when there’s a shift change.”

Jun just fell silent. There was so much to take in and so much to sort through and all she could find it in her to say, ask was, “Would you like to take a bath at my place?”

Amy looked at her, was quiet for a moment before asking, “You’re inviting me over?”

Jun just looked back down at their hands, and thought about all those little notes she’d written that Amy had ignored for so long, and yet looked at the way Amy was holding tight to her right now, always had a smile for her, always tipped 100% and just… despite what feelings she might have, might not have there was no way she could just leave her alone like this. “I’m inviting you over.”

 

Neither of her parents were home so it wasn’t as if she had to lie to get Amy past either of them. The house wasn’t much but it was theirs, as her dad liked to say. Jun left Amy in the bathroom and by the time she found some clothes she thought would fit her, Amy had already undid her dress and it was in a puddle around her feet. All she had on was a red lace set.

Even with her arm bruised and the scratches along her legs and back, she still looked regal. Amy carried herself like a Queen. Jun couldn’t tell if the slight flush on Amy’s cheeks was from the steam of the water or from embarrassment of being almost nude.

“You’re doing a lot for a stranger, Miss Jun.”

Jun laid the shirt and skirt down on the toilet lid. There was some new underwear they’d grabbed from the store still in the bag, no bra though. “After I’ve served you breakfast for the better part of a year… I don’t feel like you’re a stranger, Que… Miss Amy.”

When she looked over, Amy had settled on the rim of the tub and was looking at her as if she couldn’t figure out where to start. Jun was patient as she waited, to the point that she ended up half kneeling on the floor, just waiting for Amy to speak.

“Queen?” Amy asked, and she has her legs crossed at the knee, while sitting on the edge of Jun’s tub in nothing than her lace underclothes. Jun was weak, and she wondered if her face could get any redder as she properly kneeled, Amy having caught her full attention. “Most folks call me _doll_ and some men call me _princess_ … why _Queen_?”

“Everyone at the diner calls you that… our very own Queen of Hollywood.” Jun couldn’t look past her ankles, at her toenails painted red because she was weak. That stacked chest was pressing up against Amy’s red bra, and Jun drew her eyes back down. “You look like an actress…”

“I wanted to be one…” Amy laughed and it was so sad that Jun had to clench up her hand to stop from touching her. “I kept getting told I didn’t have the looks… that I’d need to _lighten_ myself up a bit. Even now… working where I do I think they might be right. There’s no space for someone like me.”

Jun did touch her then, fingers light as she looked at one of the shallow cuts on her leg. “Do you want me to bandage you up once you’ve washed up?”

“That would be sweet of you,” Amy said. Jun looked up and she was smiling and her sparkle wasn’t all the way back but her eyes looked more alive now. “Can I ask for a favor before you go?”

Jun just looked at her, knowing full well that Amy could ask for the moon and she’d try her best to go get it.

Amy looked almost bashful as she turned around letting her legs go into the water, looking briefly over her shoulder at Jun. “Can you undo my bra for me? My arm is still a bit sore.”

Jun looked down at the clasps and undid them one by one before leaving the straps to hang down. Her eyes didn’t know where to focus but she knew one thing— Amy needed privacy to bathe. She stepped back and was pressing a hand to the door as Amy shifted and let her bra fall from her chest as she stepped into the water. Jun took in the smooth skin, her nipples, the dip of her belly down— Jun stopped looking and blurted out, “Call if you need me!” before she shut the door firmly, and hurried to her room.

She was being tested and she didn’t know if she’d pass.


	2. Lonely Hearts Club

After Amy had finished cleaning herself, she called for Jun. Jun took her time bandaging her up, taking care of the blossoming bruises on her shoulders and arms. After the final bandage was taped closed Amy stepped into the borrowed skirt and shirt. Jun just sat on the bed, watching as she used the towel to catch her curls and quickly wrapped them to dry.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done,” Amy said.

Jun stood up as Amy kneeled down to pick up her heels. “Are you going back home? You just got out the bath, you’ll make yourself sick!” Amy paused, and then sprung back up on the balls of her feet, heels in hand yet a hand on her hip as she looked Jun up and down.

“Do you have children, Miss Jun?”

“No?”

“You don’t need to play Mother with me, Miss Jun. I assure you I’ve been fine on my own for a while now—”

“I’m not trying to mother you. I’m just worried about you, Miss Amy.”

There was a pause as Amy shifted, worried her bottom lip for a moment, and then asked, “There’s no need… I can just call Gilbert, see if he can’t get that man off my back.”

“Who is Gilbert? Your boss?”

“The one and the same. It’s his fault I’m in this situation anyhow.”

There was a story there, obviously, because despite the frown on Amy’s face, she still sounded fond of the man. Jun wondered about that even as she offered the use of her phone.

Amy put down her heels and said, “You’re too nice, Miss Jun.”

“It’s just a phone, Miss Amy.” Jun led her down the hall to the phone. She stepped into the kitchen to give Amy some privacy while she called her boss. Jun didn’t listen in but heard a loud “GIL” and then after a bit Amy wandered in briefly to ask her the address. After Jun gave it, she went back and repeated it to Gilbert. Then she came in, bare feet curling in from the cold of the tiles, and said, “He’ll be here shortly.”

“I’m glad to hear that… I hope he can help you out with that man.”

Amy laughed, looking away from Jun and just taking in the lived in kitchen. “I still don’t know why you’re all worrying over a girl like me, Miss Jun.”

“Because I want to.”

A sad note entered Amy’s voice as she stepped toward the kitchen table and took a seat. “You’re the first in a long time, Miss Jun.” She looked over her shoulder at Jun as she wrapped the towel from her head and shook out the curls. They weren’t as damp as earlier and her hair was returning to its normal yellow state. “Last one was Gil and that was ages ago now.”

Jun took her usual seat at the table and looked at Amy carefully. “To be worried over you?”

“Mhm.” Amy refocused on Jun and offered her a small smile before asking, “Are you the one who has been leaving those little notes with my breakfast, Miss Jun?”

_Good luck at work today, beautiful <3 Keep smiling! _

_I hope the coffee helps, Queen! <3 _

_I hope the blueberries are good!_

Little notes like that and more for the past two months had graced a napkin placed on Amy’s table each day. Words she’d never been brave enough to say and here Amy was in her house, in her kitchen, wearing her clothes, fresh from her tub asking her about them. Jun had no words, just covered her face with her hands. This whole situation was torture that she’d brought down upon herself. What had she been thinking? Obviously nothing at all!

“You’re awfully cute, Miss Jun.”

Jun looked up and Amy was beaming, face split open with a smile. Her blue eyes were dancing and she looked like she had gotten away with something.

Jun’s own mischievous angel.

Jun was still speechless but Amy wasn’t.

“I couldn’t figure out who was leaving them for the longest… but when you called me _Queen_ today I figured it out. I’m happy it was from such a cute girl and not like from that old man in the kitchen or any of the other customers.”

“You don’t mind it?”

“Why would I? They were cute… really got me smiling. Thank you.”

Jun just looked at her. At this Queen of Hollywood sitting in her kitchen, thanking her for her little notes that had to have meant nothing (she’d thought at first) given all that was going on with her life. But then Jun realized she’d had Amy wrong from the start, hadn’t she?

How to even approach this, how to even say what she wanted to say?

How could she ask Amy to stay?

Stay so that they could get closer, get to know each other properly, and so that Jun could keep an eye on her. She still didn’t like the force behind some of those bruises. Had Amy really jumped out of a car? She still didn’t know if that was true or not.

Before she could say more than, “you’re welcome,” there was a knock on the door.

On the other side was an man as white as snow with hair like ice and eyes hidden by glasses. He lit up when he saw Amy and in the whirlwind, Jun didn’t get to say any of what she wanted, needed to say.

All she got was Gilbert’s thanks, and a quick, friendly kiss from Amy on her cheek.

Her cheek felt warm for hours after she saw them drive off in that Prussian blue car.

* * *

 

To Jun’s disappointment, Amy didn’t show up at all the following day and her usual booth stayed empty, taunting Jun until she finally clocked out. She didn’t know what she had expected— why she had expected _anything_. It wasn’t as if she and Amy were friends. Just a waitress and a regular client. Nothing more, nothing less. She knew that.

Knowing it didn’t make her heart hurt any less.

It was with an aching heart that she finally got home, ready to take a hot bath before switching gears to help her mother clean houses.

She was stepping out of her flats when the chattering from the kitchen drew her ear. Her younger siblings were all crowded around the table, gushing over the most beautiful bouquet of flowers in the center. They were spilling out of the basket, lush reds, glittering golds, and all the filler greenery that truly made them pop.

Leon fell silent first, then Kiku, until Mei pointed at her, squealed, and all three were chattering again.

Despite their carrying on, Jun finally got to properly look at the bouquet. Nestled almost quietly in the bold arrangement was a simple card with such a carefree statement that it had her blushing and smiling.

_Have a wonderful day, sweet Jun! Thank you for your help. <3_

She didn’t need a name to know it was from Amy. She just picked one of the roses up and pressed the petals against her cheek. Even if she wasn’t a famous star, the Queen of Hollywood was still so unreal.

Jun tucked the rose into her hair and went to work with her mother.

* * *

 

The next morning, looking as if she had never broken routine, Amy sat at her usual booth, waiting quietly for her coffee. Jun anxiously peered at her from the kitchen while ignoring everything Juan was saying. When their briefing was over she stepped out, coffee pots in hand. Twisted into Jun’s hair was the tiara of flowers she and Mei had made, the flowers too lovely to just leave out on the table to die. They were meant to be celebrated and seen.

Amy was meant to be celebrated and seen.

“Good morning,” Amy said, voice much better than two days ago. Elodie neatly took the regular coffee from her lax fingers and Jun let herself linger at Amy’s side. Lingering that turned to an invitation to _sit down for a spell, can we talk for a moment?_ as Amy’s bright eyes sparkled at her, constantly looking at the flowers piled into her hair.

“Thank you for these,” Jun said, touching a hand for a moment to her hair, and then smiling at Amy.

“I never expected you to wear them, Miss Jun,” Amy said, laughter clear in her voice.

“I wanted to show them off,” Jun said. “It’s the first time someone’s sent me flowers.”

“They look good on you. I don’t often get to see someone as cute as you wearing something I selected.”

“Do you select a lot of things for others to wear then?” Jun tried not to sound disappointed about that. She needed to stop getting her hopes up that she was somehow special.

“It’s an unofficial part of my job, but I must say… you put all of them to shame, Miss Jun.”

“Flatterer.” Jun rested her head on her palm and just looked at Amy. There was no need for the girl to try and charm her— she’d been charmed long ago. Taken in by the mysterious allure of her brown skin, blue eyes, and curly blond hair. She was a Queen living amongst commoners and it showed in the defiant tilt of her chin, that red lip stain on her full lips—

“Well, we both know flattery will get a body places, sweet Jun.”

“Do you have someplace you want to go, Queen?”

“As long as I can get you to escort me there, yeah I have some places in mind.”

Jun didn’t have an immediate response to that. Escorting Amy places? Like… a date?

Huh, she thought, and then she was smiling. Sitting at a table across from a Queen, hair adorned with the flowers from said Queen, who was maybe, more likely than not asking her out.

“Where will you take me?” Jun leaned on her elbows, rude as it was, and just grinned at Amy. Amy grinned back, ducking her head down for a moment, as if shy.

Amy was just being coy though as she smirked, settling her thumb to rub gently against Jun’s exposed skin. “Where wouldn’t I take you?”

 _Well,_ Jun thought, and then said just that, “Well…” really drawing out the _l_ s as she leaned just a bit across the table, caught up in that smile, those eyes. She was weak.

Amy was laughing with her, and Jun’s heart was beating in her throat, and she was so weak. She had lost and she wondered if Amy felt just as lost as her laughter slowed and her eyes lowered and she was leaning in too—

“June bug, stop making moon eyes at Queenie and get to work, yeah?” — Juan had the worst timing.

Jun groaned, Amy let out a disappointed sigh and then smiled. “June bug?”

Jun shook her head, standing up, and getting back in work mode. But… “Friday at 7?”

Amy picked up her mug and raised it up for a moment. “It’s a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's one more chapter after this (I HOPE)!!

**Author's Note:**

> This work will have 4 parts (I think). 
> 
> Visit me on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/keiimos) or [ tumblr](https://keiimos.com/)! Comments are love, kudos are love, retweets and reblogs are also love.
> 
> Happy Belated Valentine’s Day!


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